October 12 and 13th

We are staying in a state park (Rock Creek State Park) near Memphis. We stopped at the "Shilo Battlefield" on our way here, we got another National Park stamp to validate our park book collection. We did laundry and cleaned house so we are free tomorrow to sight see.
Saturday, We went to see the "Woodruff-Fontaine House" in old Memphis.(picture) Over the years this house was used for many things, the amazing thing is the beautiful architecture and stained glass windows over the front door and stairway wasn't destroyed when the the homeless and vandals finally took it over. (they had boards were over them) The historical society took it over in 1961 and it is now completely restored with all the furnishings of the period and it is 3 full stories of rooms and furniture as it was in its prime. The whole neighborhood has these kind of homes with people living in them and the one next door is as big and setting there empty.(picture brick home)
From here we went to the "Slave Haven Underground Railway," a home that was used by the under ground railway for hiding slaves. A secret cellar and trap doors reveal the escape route of runaway slaves. It was interesting to hear how they hid them and the secret knowledge they used to find these homes at such a desperate time in their lives, like homemade quilts on the porch with a star on it. The had displays of auction bills listing the amount of slaves and the age and sex of them that they would be selling on the auction block.
We rode the trolley next and got a good view of the city. It sure is an old city with a lot of trash all over. Sunday we stayed home and did jobs that needed done, we did the casino that night.

October 11, 2007

We are on our way to Memphis and we are spending one night in Pickwick state park. We stopped to see the home of country singer, Loretta Lynn. She lives in the town of Hurricane Mills and she owns the town, (the post office pays her rent every month) Her original home she built is now a museum,(picture) so she has a new one behind the old one they call Plantation Home. She has a replica of her folks home on Butcher Holler that is exactly the same size and has the exact same furniture and decor that the original had.(picture) Her brother has the original home where it was built and he does a tour business with the original house also. She has a small duplicate coal mine like the one she wrote her song about (Coal Miner's Daughter.) in her town. All the business's in the town are hers.
She was at home and her sister Crystal Gayle was there. They didn't come outside where we could see them. She has a house full of Avon Products and still buys more. The dealer is her original Avon lady, but with sales like that she only needs one customer. We got quite a chuckle out of all the cabinets and dressers full of those collectors bottles.

October 10, 2007

This is our 4th day in Nashville, the home of country music and the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, the "Ryman Auditorium". The Ryman served as the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 until 1974. It was completely renovated in 1994 and it is in full use again. Travelocity has named the Ryman one of the "coolest venues in the world," and it has been voted the "Best place to Hear Live Music In America 3 years in a row. The tour told us the acoustics of the Ryman are the best of any place in the US, including the "Morman Tabernacle" in Salt Lake City. They were having a show for some benefit the day we were there and it was very busy with all the singers practicing for their performances that night. We didn't buy a ticket, as they were $150.00 a seat. They have so many music stores in this town, you can find any old CD you want. All the old music is still available.They have a new Grand Ole Opry hall in Nashville that is very nice with lots of seating and the back stage area has more room and dressing rooms for the stars. Sharon was more interested in the old auditorium and with the new remodel they did, it is beautiful.(pictures)

October 7 through the 9th

We are now in Nashville, Tennessee, we are staying in a Corp. of Engineers park right on Old Hickory Lake. These campsites are the very best of camping, if you like beauty and lots of room.(picture) US Corp of Engineer parks are developed on government reservoirs and are run by the Corp.(we now look for the US Corp of Engineer Parks)
From here we went to see Andrew Jackson's house. And then we went to what is left of the home of Johny Cash. After he died, the family sold the home to Barry Gibbs of the Beegee's. He was having some painting and cleaning up done when it caught fire and burned to the ground. It was still awesome to see, as it is right on the lake with the most beautiful stone fence surrounding the grounds and there was the guard room by the gate still there. The property goes for over a block. You can see by the pool area and all the stone foundations and partial walls that is must have been a beautiful home.(pictures) People like us still drive by when there is no one there to look, so we can't imagine what it was like when they lived there. The town of Gallatin has a small town atmosphere about and is located about 10 miles from Nashville right on the lake.

October 4th through the 6th

The rest of the days in Pigeon Forge were spent sight seeing in the towns of Knoxville and Gatlinburg. One day we went to one of the National Parks to get our Park Book validated and see the historic sight. The Great Smoky Mountains were beginning to change colors the Smoky Mountains are high steep hills about 1500 feet with large exspansive valley's.(picture)
On the way, we stopped for lunch and within an hour and a half Kent got so sick (food poisoning) that for the first time since we started this long journey of ours, I was very scared how I was going to get him home and if he would be OK. He was so sick and couldn't stop throwing up and got so weak from throwing up so long. I set the GPS and after many stops Kent managed to get us home. We got some sprite and he started feeling better. We met a lovely couple ( Mary and Oakley) in this park who have a Mobile Suites just like ours. They both work jobs in the shows here and they get free tickets to Dollywood and the "Fabulous 50's" show. We had already went to Dollywood, but we did get tickets from them for the 50's show. It was a great show with 8 young college age kids singing and dancing to all of the 50's music. It lasted over 2 hours and we really enjoyed the music. Mary worked there that night, so we got to visit with her before and at intermission. If we had met sooner, we could have saved $90 on the Dollywood tickets. We sure enjoyed each other and we will keep in touch and maybe run into each other again. Tomorrow we are leaving for Nashville, home of the Grand Old Opera.

October 2 &3rd, 2007

Tuesday We have arrived in Tennessee, our campground is a nice one close to everything we want to see in the town. It took us awhile to get here and after we were settled in, Kent did the laundry while Sharon cleaned house and wrote on the blog. We had a lovely dinner at home and we planned out our day for tomorrow.
Wednesday we went to "Dollywood" about 11 AM, we spent the day going to 4 shows. They had a recreation of Dolly's home where she was raised. It had newspaper pages for wallpaper and all the furnishings and plates that came from her home. At the end of the day, we went to Dolly's Museum which was also in Dollywood. I think we enjoyed it the most of all. They had a large room they called "Dolly's Attic", it was just like an attic with all kinds of old things in it. Including old clothes, suit cases, dishes, pictures and junk. There was a mannequin in the attic for fitting clothes to fit Dolly. We measured it and her waist was 23 and 1/2 inches, and the bust 38. From there we went into the rest of the museum which was a beautiful two level museum with a wide open spiral staircase. There you could see both levels of the exhibits. They had small cubicles like small rooms where they had displays of memorabilia with music playing that was appropriate for the things in that display. All of the clothes she wore in movies and on album covers were in glass cases and the songs she wrote on the original paper were laying around the feet of the mannequins. The little "coat of many colors" her mom made for her is there and it is so cute and it looks like it was well worn. There are televisions all over playing the programs we all watched her do many years ago. Her trophies are in cases and her gold albums are all hung on the wall in another room. There are so many rooms to go through that I lost Kent when it was time to leave and I had to call him on my cell phone to find him. We always carry our cell phones t call the other one if we get separated.

October 1, 2007

Monday October 1st This morning we drove to the Pinnacle Overlook at the Cumberland Gap National Park. You get a spectacular view of three states- Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. (picture) We have a "National Park Passport Book" and we enjoy finding new places to visit so when you go there. You get your book stamped validated with a date when you were there. They also have a Beautiful stamp that has a picture of the Park. The "Cumberland Gap" trail which is one of the very few natural corridors through the "Appalachian Mountains. It was discovered in 1750 and was used for foot traffic until 1796 when it was improved and opened to wagon traffic. In the years 1780-1810 between 200,000 and 300,000 people crossed the gap heading west. Daniel Boone had a great part in blazing the trail that became the primary way to the West until 1830's when railroads and canals improved east-west travel elsewhere. In 1996 U.S. 25E road tunnel completed, bypassing the gap. In 2002, the Gap landscape was restored to its 1810 appearance. We hiked to the saddle of the Gap, to put ourselves back in history and away from the rest of the world and noises. It was a neat experience for us that warm Sunday afternoon.

September, 28 & 29,2007

Friday 28th Yesterday on the way to Bowling Green, we stopped and went through "Mammoth Cave". It became a National Park in 1926 and was fully established in 1941 with 40 miles of passageway that had been mapped. Today there is more than 350 miles of surveyed passageways, geologists estimate that there could be as many as 600 miles of yet undiscovered passageways. Mammoth cave is more than twice as long as any known cave. When we went through the cave, it was cold, dark and wet in some areas. They had every 4th person carry a coleman kerosene lantern. Kent was a carrier and sometimes when they stopped to talk to us, the warmth of the lantern was nice to be by(picture). Caves aren't too exciting, but we try almost everything on trips.
Today we went to the Corvette Plant In Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was sure fun to see that many Vets all at once in so many colors. They build over 30,000 Corvettes a year and everyone is sold before it is built. You can drive one off the assembly line if you choose to do so rather than off the lot of your dealer. Every 5th Corvette on the assembly line is the CV6 that it is the top of the line. It has an aluminum frame, 4 wheel disk brakes, and there are vents on the front by each door to keep the brakes cool. It's funny when we see a Corvette now, we immediately say that's the cheap one or that's the good one!!! ( Really there is no Cheap Vet) We think we are now Corvette experts!!!!! LOL
I think working in those plants would be a good job to do, as no one seems to be hurried or tired, esp. at the Harley Davidson Plant when we were there. One guy sat reading the paper after installing each part while waiting for another car to come down the line. That night we went out for Pizza, as it was Friday night our date night!!!
The park we are staying in is hosting a "Harley Bike Rally" this weekend. We had no idea they were doing this before we arrived. We paid for a spot and when we asked which space was ours, they said any space we found open was OK. If we found it too noisy, they would give us a refund but we were to stay on the right side of the wire fence. They had put up this fence for the bikers to be on one side and the travelers and wanna be's on the other. I asked one of the workers that works there what a wanna be would be in Bikers language? She said one who doesn't have a fancy toy hauler to bring their bikes in and preferably Harley's. The rent on the bike side was $40 for the space and $20 for each bike or person extra. (picture) Our side including the wanna be's was 20.00 for a site. They paid only $20 a night for everything, including extra trailers behind the coaches and extra bikes. Why the difference in price? It was a status thing I guess. They were actually quite interesting and respectful and we only saw one topless woman on a bike. (we didn't go over to the other side of the fence to see if there were more. LOL)
Saturday 29th Today we did laundry and house cleaning and spent the day mostly at home. We went to Mass at another beautiful church and then we went out for dinner at the best BBQ Rib place. We ran into some college kids that we had met at the pizza place last night clear across town by the college. They had told us about this place, and what are the odds of running into them again in a town this size. They saw us and hollered ( Sharon has been in the South to long, how about yelled) at us and it was fun seeing them again. They were brothers from Indiana going to college at Kentucky University and they reminded Sharon of Justin and Joel, her Grandsons. Tomorrow we are leaving for Middlesboro, Ky and then Dolly Wood.

September 27, 2007

Thursday We are going to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site . In 1808 Thomas and Nancy Lincoln Abe's parents bought the Sinking Spring farm paying $200 for 348 acres. They built a one-room log cabin on a knoll near Sinking Spring, (picture) their cabin was probably the typical 18 x 16 feet, dirt floor, with one window, one door and a fireplace. Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809 and was named after his grandfather. In 1906 a marble and granite memorial (picture) was built to house the log cabin (there is no documentation to support the authenticity of the cabin) by the sinking springs(picture) that still flows water as it did when Lincoln lived there for two years of his life. The corner stone was laid by President Theodore Roosevelt, in 1916 the memorial and the spring farm were established as a National Park. In 1959 it was designated Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. In 1811 the Lincoln's moved 10 miles northeast to a farm on Knob Creek. The Lincoln's were anti-slavery and in 1816 they moved to Indiana where he grew to manhood and continued his life against slavery. His boyhood home on Knob Creek was added to the Nat. Park System as a unit of Abraham Lincoln birthplace Nat. Historic Site November 6, 2001. (picture)

September 26, 2007

Wednesday Today is a rainy, drizzly day and we are going to tour the Jim Beam Bourbon Plant. (Picture) In 1788 Jacob Beam a farmer, moved his family to the bluegrass hills of what is now known as Kentucky. He raised corn, fruit and hogs and operated a grain mill. Jacob accepted a portion of the mash he ground as payment, using it to distill whiskey for personal use. He began selling his bourbon in1795. Since then there has been master distillers in every generation of the family. There has been 7 generations of Beam's running the business and they are still using the original recipe and process that was created over two centuries ago. The final step in making the bourbon-making process is aging it in new, charred white oak barrels.(picture) Charring the barrel interiors creates a caramelized layer of wood through which the whiskey passes back and forth hundreds of times during the aging process. Federal regulations require a two-year aging period, Jim Beam ages it's bourbon for at least four years to achieve its smooth flavor. We went into the lovely tasting room and tasted their finest bourbon"Bakers". It is 107 proof it burned going down but the after taste was good. We are mostly beer drinkers, but we had to admit the bourbon they served us was pretty darn good. (Picture)

September 25, 2007

We continued downtown to the "Louisville Slugger Baseball bat factory". (picture) It was real interesting seeing how they make the bats They also showed us all the different styles and weight of bats the pro's use. Weight, length and balance are the key factors to a bat fitting you properly. They make the bats for a lot of professional ball players and have a lot of old bats on display from famous players. You get a small 18" bat free when the tour is over, it would make a good billy-club for carrying in the truck for an emergency Sharon said. Kent said he would only get into trouble if he needed that sort of thing for protection. (pictures)

September 25, 2007

Tuesday 25th We drove to "Churchill Downs" this morning and we stopped at "Cracker Barrel" again for breakfast. Sharon loves those grits and Kent loves the French toast. The Churchill Downs museum was very interesting with all the pictures and stories of all the horses. They gave us a tour of the track, betting area, stables and everything involved with the "Kentucky Derby".(pictures)

September 24, 2007

Monday 24th It is another warm, humid day, we drove by Fort Knox but we didn't stop, as there are signs saying no stopping on the highway. Sharon took a picture from the car(picture) and we wonder what it must be like to work with all that money!! We are 17 miles from Louisville, Kentucky, so we drove over there to check it out. The first day here, it was so humid dark and hazy with the rumble of thunder, we thought maybe we were in for a storm. Then the thunder turned into louder booms that actually shook the trailer several times, but we went outside and noticed no lightening!! We found out the noise was coming from artillery being fired at Ft. Knox five miles away.

September 23rd, 2007

Sunday 23rd. We drove to Radcliff, Ky. today and the campground we had reservations in was a big disappointment to us. It was real rundown and shoddy looking, the day was so hot we had to have 50 amps. to run both air conditioners. After a short discussion as what to do, we called several campgrounds in the surrounding towns with no luck. We decided to try for the first time , "Wal-Mart"! We asked if it would be OK to park beside the building where there was lots of room and was quiet, instead of out front. We quickly set up camp and we walked across the parking lot to eat dinner at a place called "Steak and Shake". They are all over here and they have the best milk shakes ever!!! Our suite was rather warm when we got back from dinner with no air conditioning. There was a cool breeze outside so we got out a deck of cards, our patio table and chairs. We played 2 games of cards outside under the big street light over our space until 10 PM. We met a few friendly people who stopped and talked to us about where we were from and about their state. We had to put a cloth over our table to make it easier for us to pick up the cards with the grids in the table and we looked pretty fancy setting there. LOL (Picture taken in the dark)
The next morning we woke up early surrounded by big trucks and lots of talking and noise. We learned that the small trucks (bread, potato chips, milk etc.) unload at the side door instead of the loading docks in back. We very quickly showered, dressed and left, we drove around front and Sharon went inside for her morning cup of coffee. It was a fun night that we will always remember, our 1st time camping at Wal-Mart!!!!

September 22nd

Saturday 22 Today we went to Paducah, Kentucky. The town is built right on the Missouri river. They built walls ( we call dikes in Oregon) they call "water stops". The town has been flooded before, so they built these walls. They have left openings in the wall so you can drive down by the water when the water is normal. When and if the water rises, they put up a section of the wall to stop the water. These walls are painted by the Art Association in town and have the most beautiful murals painted on them of the history of Kentucky. One of the pictures shows the opening in the wall.(pictures)
The river is very busy with barges moving freight up and down the river. We saw barges that tugs had just pushed up the bow of the barge on the bank. The tugs were holding the barges there while waiting to go up or down the river.(picture)
We went to Mass there on Sat. night to a beautiful old church built in the middle 1800's. and then out for dinner. We had watched this baker make coconut creme pies through the store window when we were touring the wall. It looked good and we couldn't wait to go there and eat dinner and have a piece of that pie. After all that anticipation, the pie wasn't really all that good. We had a piece of coconut creme pie at Kent's cousins house that was a frozen "Marie Calenders" and it was the best coconut pie we have ever eaten. Maybe they sell more and that is why he makes pie in the show window. LOL